Stars And Stripes 4Ever
by KitsuneNoThrill
Summary: Basically this is Steve's thoughts and view of how things transpired through out the movie Avengers. will become a Steve/Tony slash
1. Chapter 1 - The Spark

Steve pounded into the punching bag, each hit harder than the last. Eye focused on one spot but unseeing as memories flooded his vision.

Over the past few months it had been an uphill struggle, nothing seemed right, everything was so very hopelessly wrong. Nothing in his short lived years had prepared him for what had transpired. There was a sickening solace to it all. Everything he had worked so hard to achieve had been ripped from his life, time had passed like a dream. One second he was supposed to be dying, the next he had awoken to this new and complex world. He didn't fit here, he was out of time, this era had no need for heroes in uniform. From what he had gathered most wars were fought by machines now...he was a soldier without a war, without a purpose.

Back in his day, Steve had seen what became of soldiers without a place. Men who had seen hell on earth and were mercilessly thrown back into society, unable to cope. Each one had checked out only months later, some even sooner. He had always wondered how they could bring themselves to commit such a act, but now, being in this time and space he was beginning to understand. The memories wouldn't stop, couldn't stop. The wars, the friends lost, the partner he should have had.

'You won't be alone' At the memory of her, his punches grew stronger and more frantic. She was meant to be with him, she was his first true love, the person who had seen him when he was invisible. But now she was gone. His vision blurred as a final solid swing blew the punching bag across the room.

Steve stared at it for a moment. 'Gone, everything I care about is gone'. The weight of the thought pulling him further into sadness. He turned and grabbed another bag from the pile on the floor. He had had the feeling it was going to be a rough night and hence prepared himself for a punch fest. Everything always seemed easier in the midst of battle.

He attached the bag to the chain hanging from the ceiling and gunned it, each thrust releasing some frustration.

"Trouble sleeping?" An all too familiar voice called to him.

Steve wasn't surprised at the commanders appearance. Fury and his lackeys had been hounding him since he had woken up, they wanted him to join their cause and no amount of refusal seemed to deter them from enlisting him.

"Slept for 70 years sir, I think I've had my fill." He continued to lay waste into the bag, intending to ignore the man's presence. Unfortunately the man didn't seem to understand a polite dismissal when he heard one.

"Then you should be out, celebrating, seeing the world." Steve paused, glancing up to the man as he approached him, not even bothering to hide is disdain for Fury's persistence. Realizing his peaceful moment alone was up he gave in and started to close up. "When I went under the world was at war, I wake up they say we won, they didn't say we'd lost."

"We've made some mistakes along the way, some very recently." Fury stopped in front of him, holding a folder. Well if he wasn't going to bring it up, the super soldier was going to have to,"You here about the mission Sir?"

"I am" Came Fury's Short response.

"Trying to get me back in the world?"

"Trying to save it." Fury must have gotten tired of waiting for him to ask about the folder because he opened it and handed it over.

Steve glanced at it, intent on not accepting the offer but a small ocean blue cube on the front page changed his mind. "Hydra's secret weapon..." He hadn't realized he had said it out loud until Fury began to explain why they had it.

"Howard Stark fished that out of the ocean when he was looking for you."

It was surprising to see the cube but more so was Fury's admission. Howard had been looking for him. True they had gotten along quite well but he hadn't expected him to actually come looking for his corpse. Perhaps he had been more of a friend than he had first expected.

"He thought what we think, the Tesseract could be the key to unlimited sustainable energy. That's something the world sorely needs." Fury's eyes were trained on hin, seeming to search for some sign he had Steve's attention.

But Steve wasn't buying it. Fury was up to something. In the short time he had known the commander he had learned he always Always had an selfish motive.

Steve shut the folder and handed it back, "Who took it from you?"

"He's called Loki, he's...not from around here."

Cryptic as usual. Probably some sort of lab monster like Red Skull.

"There is a lot we will have to get you up to speed on if you are in. The world has gotten even stranger than you already know."

"At this point I doubt anything would surprise me" Steve stood and walked to pick up his things. Unfortunately as much as he wanted to ignore this man and his problems if it was related to the Tesseract then it involved him whether he liked it or not.

"Ten bucks says you're wrong." Came Fury's rebuttal. When he didn't get a response he continued, "There's a debriefing packet waiting for you back at your apartment."

Still no response.

"Is there anything you can tell us about the Tesseract that we ought to know about now?" Fury pushed on. He really didn't get when someone was ignoring him.

"You should have left it in the ocean." Steve quipped. He was not ready to deal with his past when it was in the past, let alone when it came blasting into his present uninvited.

The trip back to the apartment seemed far too short. Why was it every time you have some pressing issue time seems to just fly by? Fate really could go die somewhere for all he cared.

As promised, on his bed lay the debriefing packed. The apartment had shown no signs of a break in, and everything else was still in its place including his booby traps. Okay S.H.E.I.L.D. deserved props for that one.

Sitting down he grabbed the packet and dumped it out on his bed. Flipping open the contents of the folder Avengers Initiative he was greeted with what seemed to be Bio's of very strange looking people.

The first one was named Bruce Banner, he was a grungy looking man with dark hair and eyes. He probably hadn't shaved in months from the looks of it and bathing seemed to be an option as well. He scanned over his profile quickly but found nothing extraordinary about him aside from being a very smart scientist and a note about anger management problems. So smart and scary, guess that fit SHIELD's MO.

The next file was his own but with a very outdated photo, one of when he was still small and scrawny. His file was marked rather vaguely as well. Aside from his age and a small note on fast healing and above par strength there was nothing to give off the fact that he was a lab experiment. He was beginning to think what whoever wrote these Bio's would have considered World War 2, "A slight disagreement with a few skirmishes."

He flipped on to one called Thor, no last name just Thor. A man with long blonde hair and a firm jaw. Apparently there was no dumbing down his file, it simply stated demi god of thunder no further information available. Steve stared at it for a moment. God of thunder...okay that was more than he was ready for. He shut the folders tossing them to the desk but one file missed and fell to the floor. He reached to pick it up but stopped he saw the name on the folder. Stark...Tony Stark.

The man in the photo had short dark hair that whipped up in the front like he had been in a wind storm, the most unusual beard, a smug expression that screamed of self confidence and dark eyes that could just draw you in and drop you off the end of the world. A tribute to the name Stark for sure. Howard had been quite the looker back in his day so it was no surprise that his son was as well. His file was by far the most full. Next to his name was the inscription Iron Man. He was a genius from the look of his profile but nothing else that would suggest he had a special skill or power. A large bolded section on his file stated, "Unpredictable, prefers to work alone." Steve smiled at the thought, he was just like his father then. Perhaps this mission would be more interesting than he first thought.


	2. Chapter 2 - Welcoming the Fangirl

Thank you everyone for the awesome comments, you made this chapter come about so much faster than i thought it would.

To Mariln Cane: Thank You for catching that mistake, I was literally on the floor laughing when i noticed the mistake. Fury is a furry rofl

Now on with the next Chapter

The next morning had started far to early for what little sleep Captain Steve Rogers had received that night/early morning. After having found Stark's file and reading it over cover to cover multiple times he had come across a very unusual shiny object. It was small and round like a donut but flatter than a pancake, possibly made of some metal. He vaguely remembered one of Fury's lackeys calling it a DBD or DVB some strange thing like that.

They had explained how Video players worked when he had first woken up though now that he had to figure it out again it seemed much more difficult. It had taken an hour just to figure out how to turn it on and get it running but once he had he was rewarded with footage of all the Initiatives. As he had original suspected the descriptions in the documents he had been given did none of the them any justice.

The grungy doctor's anger issues turned out to be a hulked out green giant alterego. Thor could basically fly and was from another universe, that particular fact alone had made Steve really wish he could get drunk. He had always believed in a God and all that it entailed but having proof of other universes was mind blowing to say the least. Thankfully a shiny red object on screen pulled him back to the television.

Iron Man, he was a self obsessed playboy who not only didn't take orders, he defied the government and army on multiple occasions, it was a miracle he wasn't in jail or worse on trial for treason. Then again he did have the silver tongue of a god. Steve was certain the word cock-sure was created just for this stunning man. Every word that escaped his lips was well thought out and dripping with sarcasm. It suited him, his whole image. He was everything that Steve hated. A man so self obsessed and caught up in his own life that nothing and no one else mattered. That's what he saw when he looked at Tony's life, yet he couldn't stop looking, stop from wanting to know more. He blamed that fact on trying to find something good about him for the sake of Howard Stark's memory.

Howard had been rash, bold and stunning albeit a little rebellious. But Tony was far beyond that. He took every trait his father had and blew it out of the water, out of the universe even. There was just something about this man, it made Steve angry and curious to poke the bear and find out just what made him tick.

The screen changed again, but this time with someone he did not recognize. There were two others actually. One was a red haired woman who seemed fragile but frankly scared the life out of him with her wild and vicious movements. Then there was the marks man who stood by her side, when she actually managed to stand still, that by the looks of it could hit a fly from a mile away. Was that even possible to be so skilled with a bow?

Somewhere around 5 am Steve had passed out by the television only to be awakened 3hrs later by an overly eager Agent who had introduced himself as Phil Coulson and insisted Steve call him Phil.

The agent was small in comparison to the others Steve had seen and spoke more casually than the rest. He seemed to be overly comfortable with the whole secret agent thing, it was a bit concerning just how happy this man was. Maybe it was the whole world in peril situation and this is how he handled it. Steve shrugged it off and followed Phil after a quick packing job.

It was a short trip to the docks where they boarded a plane headed for "home base". Phil had provided him with more in depth documents and paperwork on the mission as soon as they took off. Steve read over them, thankful to finally have someone to question about all the strange new people he was to be working with.

"We're about 30 minutes out from homebase sir" One of the pilots called to Phil.

It was weird, like everything was somehow connected in one large complex ridiculous way and all stemming from Dr Erskine's original experiment on Steve.

"So this doctor Banner was trying to replicate the serum they used on me?" It was hard to imagine that if things hadn't gone so right when he had been under the needle that he could have been a giant green hulk as well. Thank goodness for small miracles.

"A lot of people were." Phil had moved to stand next to him, resting his hand on the bars running above his head. "You were the world's first super hero."

Super Hero. Steve mulled the term over in his head. I guess in some weird messed up way he could be considered a hero, perhaps even super. He did have some, for a lack of a better term, unique skills. Of course he didn't hulk out and go green, but we was pretty strong in comparison to other humans.

"Banner thought gamma radiation might hold the key to unlocking Erskine's original formula."

"Didn't really go his way" Steve thought he saw Phil break a small grin at the comment.

"Not so much." Phil paused seemingly fond of the Doctor in question, "When he's not that thing though the guys like a Steven Hawking."

References, it was the one thing Steve was fairly sure he wasn't going to ever going to catch up with. Everyone in this time seemed obsessed with referencing people and things to what they called 'pop culture'. Phil must have caught his befuddled expression because he quickly explained himself, "he's like a, smart person."

Was it really so hard to not just say, 'he's a smart person'? It would have been so much faster. He directed his attention back to the file in his hand. But Phil lingered, somewhat awkwardly. He seemed to be waiting for something.

"I gotta say, it's an honor to meet you." Phil grinned stupidly at him, "Officially."

Steve offered a small smile. Phil was really a nice guy, a bit of a fan from the sound of it but that never hurt anything. Maybe he would be his first real friend in this time.

"I sort of met you," Steve offered a friendly smile as Phil continued, "I mean, I watched you while you were sleeping."

Steve's face fell flat, 'Okay...that's just really awkward.'

Coulson caught his mistaken choice of words but it was a too little too late, "I mean, I was...i was present," Steve got up from his seat, suddenly being in a position below this man was far more creepy then it should have been, "while you were unconscious, from the ice."

Well so much for that idea. Friends with your stalker, not the best idea. Steve moved toward the front, finding himself overwhelmingly happy that there were two other people in this small space but he couldn't seen to get away as Coulson who had followed him towards the front.

Steve rested one hand on the front overhang, Coulson following suit,"You its really, just a, just a huge honor to have you on board."

"Well, I hope I am the man for the job." Steve looked anxiously out the front window, this homebase couldnt get here fast enough.

"You are...absolutely." Coulson looked around nervously, undoubtedly trying to find something to say to calm the awkward mood. "Uh... We've made some modifications to the uniform, I had a little design input."

"Uniform" There was a shocker. They were actually planning to keep him in a uniform hopefully not like the old days... With as little as Steve knew about this era he was pretty sure he knew enough to judge how the public would take to a spangly dressed man in a ultra tight one piece suit. " Aren't the stars and stripes a little...old fashioned?" More like ancient but to say that would be to admit his age and he wasn't quite sure he wanted to do that yet.

Coulson just shrugged, "With everything that's happening, the things that are about to come to light...the people might just need a little old fashioned."

Steve could understand that much. The world was about ready to learn just how small they really were. That they were not alone in the universe, that aliens existed and that compared to the God of Thunder they were merely uncivilized prehistoric creatures even in this computerized world. And for all their heroes and war machines they couldn't even begin to scratch the surface of what one swing from this Thor's hammer could do.

Speaking of heroes, this was perhaps his only real chance to ask questions before he as surrounded by an army. Now if only to find a way to asking delicately. "The Initiatives, are they all here already?"

Coulson looked so overjoyed to have been asked a question, Steve inwardly sighed, this whole fan thing was going to take some getting used to. "Yes, well most are, Thor is missing, we haven't seen him since he left back to Asgard. But Romanoff is and Banner should be there by the time we arrive. Barton's location is unknown."

Steve vaguely recalled the faces of the two assassins, "And what of Stark." He caught the look Coulson gave, "He's unpredictable. But he might show up."

Might...yeah that sounded like him. It was sad to think he already knew what to expect of the man but perhaps the guy would surprise them all in the end and turn out to be the hero is father was...yeah, he was definitely dreaming on that one.

In the distance home base was coming into view and somewhere deep inside Steve he really hoped this was all just a bad dream and he would wake up in his own time with his people. Sadly, fate just didn't seem to like him at all.

~TBC


	3. Chapter 3 - Author Note

HI guys! So sorry for the long delay in getting an update up, good news is I have a chapter finished but I need to ask a question. Firstly thank you to all those you wrote reviews, (special thanks to Lovecrumb for the insightful review, it helped me write the next chapter ) they were all very helpful and enlightening. I had one that was saying that the story was boring and not interesting. So here is my question to you.

How do you want this story to go. I originally wrote it to follow along the lines of the movie and set up for the sequel. It was to be Steve's perspective and a second series to go by Stark's perspective that followed the original story but also threw in some slash where I thought it should have been. Basically a ton of sexual tension and few slash bits so that when the second movie comes out it would flow into it as well. BUT this story is for your enjoyment as much as mine and I really won't feel right writing it if people will find it boring.

So I give you an option, I can continue to write the story as it is and follow my original plan, or I can make it more exciting and write like everyone who just kind takes part of the story and throws it into a blender.

Let me know what you want, if I don't get any responses by Friday then the third chapter will go up as I have already written it and things will continue. One chance to change it is now, so let me know.

-B


	4. Chapter 4 - The Flying Duck

Finally, so freakin sorry for the long delay, I have had one hell of a brain fart and been rewritting this chapter over and over. Its not great and I am very sorry for that! Thank you for all the wonderful messages and as it turns out I am going to keep writing this story the way I want it :D So yay I guess. And now, without further ado here is chapter 3!

Chapter 3 : The Flying Duck

The small blip on the horizon quickly grew into an oversized hunk of metal floating in the water. It was dark, huge and to be frank, ugly as a turd. Not to mention it looked out of place, almost like it didn't belong in the ocean. Not that Steve would complain about staying on it, right at the moment he would celebrate the sight of a wooden raft if it meant getting him out of the sky and planted on something solid, well semi solid. Either way the water was better than the sky, though he preferred solid ground.

It's not something Steve would ever openly admit to being scared of but the last time he had been on a plane it had ended up crashing and freezing him solid for a decade or so. Needless to say he was not all to keen on repeating the process any time soon, or ever. Hence his general discomfort with flying.

Thankfully their flight in had been very peaceful, that is until some maniac of a pilot went screaming by rocking their world as it raced in for a crazed landing. Steve heard the captain mumble a few choice words before turning to Coulson, "Beginning landing sequence, please prepare to disembark".

Steve took one last glance toward the other plane as it slammed into a landing, before turning and moving away from the front of the plane. If they were going to crash he was going to be smart about it. What with the whole seat belts save lives thing.

Coulson followed him practically been on his heels, endearing as it was to have someone so interested in him, Steve was beginning to feel very claustrophobic. Phil was a nice man, though he was positive the man had little in they way of social skills, that or he was just an awkward man when he was excited.

Steve began to sit but Coulson caught his arm, leading him to the back of the plane. "So as soon as we land I will probably have to leave you by yourself", Steve could have sworn he heard a tinge of disappointment in Phil's voice, "but I will have one of my men take you to your cabin and get you situated. I will need you on the bridge very soon, so try to make it quick. Fury is anxious to start your briefing." Steve followed Coulson to the exit and waited with him as the plane landed rather gently to his delight. The large door creaked open shortly after, sunlight pouring in like white paint on a black canvas.

Coulson's slipped on his sun glasses and smiled at Steve, "Welcome to Home Base Captain." Steve followed him off the plane, eyes having trouble adjusting to the lighting. He scanned the deck, searching for the plane that had landed before them, but there were planes everywhere and so many people running around the deck it would be almost impossible to spot it from here.

"Agent Romanoff" Coulson greeted, pulling Steve's attention back, " this is Captain Rogers."

"Ma'am" Steve greeted her, recognizing the redhead assassin from the files, Natasha Romanoff. Bright fire red hair, super tight outfit and stunning features. For some reason she reminded him a bit of Peggy. She had this same air about her, and a crazy level of confidence.

"Hi," She gave a slight smile before turning back to Coulson. Second similarity, quick and to the point. "They need you on the bridge, they're starting the face trace."

Casual Coulson seemed to vanish in an instant, "See you there" he wandered off immediately, leaving Steve alone with Romanoff.

He had intended to only glance at her but a wave of nostalgia hit him and he was left speechless and staring. He couldn't help but see Peggy in her. Thankfully she seemed not to notice his mind fart and started to lead him away. "It was quite the buzz around here, finding you in the ice. I thought Coulson was going to swoon."

Steve gave a nervous smile and looked to the side awkwardly, ignoring her comment. Apparently Coulson's infatuation was well known, perfect.

"Did he ask you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?"

"Trading cards?" They had made trading cards of him, well his spangled self.

"They're vintage, he's very proud." She smiled and nodded ahead of them toward a very awkward looking man poking around. Steve smiled and jogged ahead of her toward the man. It was Doctor Bruce Banner.

"Doctor Banner!" Steve called offering his hand as he neared. The Doctor was standing near a plane who's crew seemed to be frantically checking the plane for damage. The plane must have been the one that had blown past them in the air, it made sense, if the hulk was feeling claustrophobic Steve would have landed the plane in a hurry too. But the poor doctor looked a mess. He whipped around eyes searching for a familiar face as he put voice to face and name.

"Oh, yeah," Banner took the offered hand in a firm shake and a glance, "hi." Steve was pretty sure he just got the once over by him but brushed off the feeling, "They told me you would be coming." Banner mumbled, still a bit on edge.

"Word is you can find the cube." The doctor was a brilliant man, or so his files said, which probably meant he was an utter genius. Top in Gama Radiation, and he looked the part. Well the part of a genius. He was scruffy and disheveled a regular stereotype. At least the files had gotten that part right.

Banner looked around, grinning slightly. "Is that the only word on me?"

"Only word I care about." The doctor seemed to accept it as the truth and calmed down a little, glancing around at all the planes and people running about. "Must be strange for you" Banner gestured toward the deck, "all of this."

Well it was a step up, at least the doctor was willing to try his hand at small talk, not that Steve really excelled at it but he was willing to give it a try. The doctor was a nice man, so Coulson had confirmed and from what he had read in his file it was true. Whatever else he was capable of could take the back burner.

"Well, this is actually kinda familiar." In fact it was the only thing in this time line that didn't feel wrong. The dirt and sweat, the smell of oil and gas, men running in formation albeit the planes and technology were all upgraded it was still a comforting thing to know that at least one thing was still familiar.

"Gentlemen," Romanoff called, placing a phone he hadn't noticed she had been talking on back in her pocket " you might want to step inside in a minute, it's going to get a little hard to breathe."

At that the ship seemed to come alive as whirring and clanking rang out from below their feet. A truly discomforting thing to hear on any ship. The sounds seemed familiar though, like submarines from back in the day. The ones the Hydra had used. "Is this a submarine"

Banner didn't seem too thrilled with the sound of it, he rolled his head scoffing, "Really? They wanna put me in a submerged pressurized metal container?" Steve followed Banner to the edge of the ship, glancing down as the water began to churn and come to life. The water ripped in large circles, pulling down to reveal large fan blades that looked suspiciously like those on the planes on deck. Steve felt his stomach fall at the realization.

The whirring grew louder as the blades got up to speed and began to lift the giant ship out of the water. Steve backed away from the edge, words escaping him and only one thought on his mind, 'Fuck.'

"Ah nah, this is much worse." Banner's sarcasm was welcomed if for nothing more than to confirm someone else abhorred the idea of being on this giant metal duck. Steve was fairly sure he had just made a really good friend in Banner. He was a weird man, brilliant, sarcastic and had a sense of humor about mostly everything.

Steve reached out and grabbed Banners arm, pulling him back in further and heading back to where Romanoff stood a good few yards away. She seemed eerily calm at all times. Like nothing in the world bothered her. It was a little discomforting. Like she could stab you in the back while smiling and calling you a dear friend.

"We should get inside." Romanoff yelled but was barely heard over the roar of the blades. Steve nodded and glanced to Banner who was still looking dazed.

"Doctor Banner," Banner snapped back to reality and followed close behind Steve. Romanoff lead them into a small corridor that lead to more and more walkways. Steve was positive he was going to get desperately lost in this place.

"Well, in case of an emergency I am not looking for any god damn exits," Banner grinned at Steve, "I'm just gonna make my own." Romanoff twitched, it happened so fast Steve couldn't be sure he saw it. He smiled back at Banner, happy to have him around, it was nice to have someone that could voice your thoughts.

The laughter was short lived though as Romanoff came to a halt by a door, "Rogers, this is your room, get situated and meet at the bridge in 15. Banner follow me."

Banner gave Steve a sympathetic look before turning and chasing after Romanoff.

And just like that they were off. Great, how was he supposed to find the bridge when he wasn't even sure where he was. Steve sighed and entered his new living space. Not as nice as his apartment but at least it was bigger than a cupboard.

It was small, just a bathroom, desk, lamp, alarm and a twin sized bed. One more familiar thing to ad to his list, military style rooming. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad here after all. At least he wouldn't be stuck in a world he didn't belong in, constantly feeling like he was drowning. Perhaps here, with these people he could begin his life again, not that he was jumping at the chance. Fury tended to piss him off, Romanoff was turning out to be scarier than Fury and Coulson was constantly on his heels. Banner was at least fun. The rest of the initiates were still missing and Tony had yet to make his appearance.

Steve sighed heavily and flopped onto his bed a loud crunching emitting behind his ears as his head hit the pillow. He pulled the large pamphlet out and grimaced. It was a guide to home base. Great, it really was huge, 26 pages of huge. He flipped through the pages, several rooms were marked as restricted, others just didn't have a label. Great, way to go and point out the areas they didn't want people. How obvious.

Glancing at the clock he stuffed the guide in his pocket and made his was out the door to meet up with Romanoff and Banner. Hopefully he wasn't too far away.

- Outside the Bridge-

20 Minutes later Steve finally made it the bridge breathing heavily and looking rather annoyed. This place could rot in hell. So many corridors, why couldn't they make them look a bit different so people didnt get lost. But no, everything looked the same, barely anything had a marking on it, and no one thought to put arrows on the walls and title them. Like a nice 'to the bridge' with an arrow showing the way. Geez, this many years in the future and they had only digressed. Even the map wasn't of any help.

Banner was leaning up against a wall glancing out the nearby window, Romanoff pacing anxiously behind him while talking on her phone.

"Well find him already, he couldn't just disappear, someone must know where he went" She sounded rather pissed. Steve would have grimaced but Banner spotted him walking up to him with a grin, "Oh thank goodness, I was beginning to think you had run off and left me here by myself."

"And leave you to the suits? Nah, wouldn't dream of it." Steve returned the grin. Romanoff, turned on her heals, snapping her phone shut without a goodbye and stomping over to him.

"How nice of you to join us _**Captain**_ Rogers." Banner gave Steve the 'she's pissed' look and stepped aside.

"Yeah, um. This place is really confusing." Steve rubbed the back of his head.

"Right, well you are here now, so lets go." She turned and lead them through the main doors, looking back to make sure they were following her.

Steve made his way to follow her but paused as he came to the railing. This place was impressive. There had to be at least 40 or 50 people on the bridge. Computers where scattered everywhere, people running here and there. There was a first, second and third tier and walkways along the upper dome that surrounded a huge glass front.

Steve turned and saw Banner nervously poking around by a large spherical doorway with guards positioned on either side. He was back to his fidgety old self again. Guess something about suits made him nervous, much to be expected.

"All engines operating," a female officer shouted, "Shield emergency protocol 193.6 in effect, we're at level sir." Steve followed her line of site to Fury, who was standing very dignified on the highest tier overlooking the main decks.

"Lets Vanish" Fury called.

Steve's eye brows shot up. Vanish, like invisibility vanish? Well at least the big flying duck could manage to not draw attention to itself, made things a bit more practical for a secret agency.

"Engage retro reflection panels." The female officer shouted, not but a few moments later a male officer called back, "Reflection panels engaged".

Right so, giant invisible floating fortress...well, Fury won that bet.

"Gentlemen" Fury greeted, calm if not a bit smug. Steve paused next to him, pulling out his wallet and handing Fury a bill and walked past him toward the tiers edge.

"Doctor, thank you for coming." Fury called to Banner who looked like he was trapped again, poor guy, Steve really did feel bad for him. He had spent so long trying to get away from these people only to be dragged back right when he thought he was free. Steve understood the feeling. Always being dragged back into this war.

"Thanks for asking nicely," Banner muttered, "So um, how long and I staying?"

Fury smiled which was actually kinda creepy looking, very unnatural on his features, "Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, your in the clear." Banner seemed to believe it.

He pulled off his jacket and rolled it up. "Where are you with that?" Furry waved the question onto Coulson, whom Steve had not noticed till now.

"We are sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet. Cell phones, laptops, if it' s connected to a satellite, its eyes and ears for us."

"That's still not going to find them in time." Romanoff rebuffed. She was crouching near a computer screen that bore the face of what looked like the other assassin from the files. Steve tilted his head curious, she must have been his partner on the field, seeing as he was the only thing she seemed to show any real emotion toward.

"You have to narrow your field." Banners voice cut through his thoughts, "How many spectrometers do you have access to?"

"How many are there" Fury's smugness was showing again.

"Call every lab you know, tell them to put their spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays. I'll rough out a tracking antilogarithm, basic cluster recognition, at least we can rule out a few places." Banner barely took a breath before continuing, "Do you have somewhere for me to work?"

Steve's face fell about halfway through that monologue. Was that even English? Goodness, it was times like these that he was sharply reminded that he was only he because of a science experiment. These people were geniuses. And he was...old and strong...

"Agent Romanoff, will you show Doctor Banner to his laboratory please." It wasn't even a question.

Romanoff snapped to attention, smirking at Banner as she passed. "You're gonna love it Doc, we've got all the toys."

And now she's flirting with him. This day just keeps getting weirder and weirder.

Fury turned and walked to his screens, "Whats the update on Tony?"

Steve's ears were on full attention at Tony's name.

"We sent a team out to collect him, but we lost them and we haven't heard from him since. But we believe he will arrive before the night it out" A male officer called back.

"Typical" Fury quipped.

A small smile pulled on Steve's lips. Soon, very soon now.

- TBC

Note:

So sorry everyone for the craptastic chapter. I have rewritten this chapter too many times to count and it still comes out to this. I apologize! I swear things will get more exciting in the next chapter, Tony finally shows up and the reindeer games begin :D


	5. Chapter 5 - Reindeer Games

First off, thank you all for the amazing reviews and comments, you have been a blessing and the reason I even decided to continue this story. Though I am left to express my deepest apologies to everyone for the lack of updates and honestly I almost decided to drop this story but your reviews kept me motivated to get back to it. For the past few months school and life kind of took over. I was taking film/movie classes, acting and working as a stage manager for a theater production for school along with my real work and life and I just didn't have any time for writing. Now I am helming my own feature film, tv pilots and working on other peoples sets….so freakin busy. Infact at the moment I should be working on pre-production stuffs but I had to get this chapter up for everyone. I looked at the story and realized just how many people were following and favorited it and crap…I cant let everyone down! I am working to keep up with my writing now and fit it in with all my stuff. It may be a while in between updates starting if I get this gig as a assistant director, so sorry in advance? I really am hoping for it cause I am planning to move to LA soon and start working towards becoming a director, so yeah, blah blah, here is hoping! Anyway, without further ado, here is your chapter :D

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

You know that thing you do when someone is talking to you and they just won't stop. And while you may not have a lot to do, or maybe nothing at all, listening to them go on and on about something random or worse yet their toy collection of you – fyi creepy- isn't what you had in mind. So you do that thing: shoulder to them, short curt answers, refuse to meet their eyes and suddenly find the space in front of you to be the bloody most interesting spot in the universe and you must unravel its mysteries this very moment! Yeah that thing...ever notice that somehow you have this false hope that the person will get the hint and leave you the hell alone, but they always seem oblivious to it? Yeah well apparently Coulson WASN'T aware of that thing either because he just kept on talking…and talking…

Steve shifted impatiently from one foot to the next sighing mentally and trying his best not to look as irritated as he felt. He had only managed to get about 20 minutes of blissful non-Coulsin time in after Banner had disappeared before the agent had popped back up and made his way over to Steve. Apparently Coulson's duties on deck were suddenly lightened and he was able to get some one on one time with him. Now, 3 hours later Coulson was still at it, completely unwinded; perhaps that was his superpower…..the never ending gift of gab.

It was unnerving just how much this man knew about his history and life as Captain America. Coulson even knew about his life before the experiment and for some reason felt the need to show off just how much of a stalker he was. 'Note to self, do not do the same when Stark shows up.'

Well, it wasn't like he knew 'everything' about Tony Stark, he had only spent a good portion of the last evening stalk...er...looking up the man. The man really was fascinating. Steve had read all about his Iron Man suite and a good bit on the speculations about what the suit could withstand. Though the part that had caught his attention was the first suit he had made while being held captive. The man had a god given talent for pulling miracles out of thin air and had absolutely no problem flaunting the fact. It was ridiculous really; despite his constant taunting the government had allowed him to continue unchecked. Then again the man seemed petulant; trying to rein him in would likely cause him to act out all the more. But despite appearances and below the smug attitude, flashy cars, and good looks…er…good physical appearance or whatever…the point was, Stark seemed fragile. What after the whole being taken hostage and now relying on a machine to keep him alive. He didn't really grasp the whole powersource thing; The whole machines run our time and lives was a hard enough for him to understand let alone Stark's condition. Life was so much simpler back in the day.

"..that was brilliant! Oh! I even have the trash lid you used! Had it tested to make sure it was authentic, of course it was.…do you remember it?" Coulson's mindless banter brought Steve back to the present. His last statement had sounded like a question. Crap, he really was trying to pay attention but there was only so much he could take at a time of this man. Steve elected to give a shrug in response; it seemed to appease Coulson as the man continued on with his conversation.

And so here they were; Coulson on the bridge standing barely 3 feet away from Steve, telling him how much he admired him and what an inspiration he was on Coulson's early life. Steve glanced down at their feet. Right, scratch that, 2 feet away. Coulson had been slowly edging closer as time went by and Steve was keeping a close eye on the distance, tossing around the ideas of running to find Banner or shouting to Fury for help should Coulson get within 6 inches of his person. He really had no concept of person space and it set Steve on edge.

"Oh! Once this mission is over would you mind signing my Captain America Trading Cards? I mean, if it's not too much trouble?" And there it was, Steve had a strange feeling he had lost some sort of bet with Romanoff. He glanced over, giving the hyper agent the barest amount of his attention. "No, no it's fine."

Steve immediately resumed his forward stance; Coulson followed his lead but only for a moment. His eyes were gleaming like a child, a slap happy grin was plastered on his face. Steve settled his attention on the suits running about like good little soldiers, inwardly praying they would find Loki fast. He needed an excuse to get away. That or Stark could finally decide to grace them with his presence. Far be it from him to actually show up on time, or any time for that matter. The man apparently ran on his own schedule come hell or high water.

"It's a vintage set," Coulson's continued, his smile going from slap happy to proud, "It took me a couple of years to collect them all." Steve inwardly committed himself to never becoming a fan of anything. "Near mint." Steve turned to glace at Coulson, someone please save him now, "slight boxing around the edges but..."

"We got a hit!" A suit called from below; relief rushed through Steve like a breaking damn. Thank the heavens for small miracles! "67% match." He would have taken 40% at this point.

Fury crossed his podium, staring down at the screens. "Wait, cross matched, 79% match." A second suit crossed the floor, "Location?"

"Stuttgart Germany, 28 Coolins, Straza." On scene was a photo of Loki pulled from the crowds, he was in a suit and looked practically normal. It was surprising such a small framed person could be so infamous but who was he to judge, from to what he read, the guy wasn't even from Earth. Not that it made any sense but it was easier to just nod and accept it than try to figure out what that all meant.

"He's not exactly hiding." The second suit stated. True enough, he looked exactly like his photo in the pamphlet. At least most criminals had the foresight to hide their identity which begged the question did this guy want to get caught? Though he did seem really full of himself. I mean look at that hair..

"Captain", Fury called out to him, "you're up."

Steve's eyes grew wide. Finally he could leave this metal contraption and get back to what he was good at, ground combat, emphasis on the GROUND portion on that.

"Suit up," Fury barely got the words out before Steve had skittered off the deck as fast as his feet could carry him. He wasn't about to wait around for someone to call a 'just kidding'.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

It was taking Steve far too long to change into his new suit, his frustration was mounting quickly as it reached its peak boiling point. He was all but ready to rip off the stupid sausage suit; which for the record, what the heck were they thinking when they designed this thing?! Seriously, it was skin tight and brightly colored; he would be a giant target running around on the field for certain. Sure in the old days he had worn a similar suit but that was a long, long time ago. It was different back then, guns weren't as advanced. Not to mention it pulled in all the wrong areas. Steve scrunched as the discomfort mounted, he shifted his legs, glancing around the room before reaching down his pants to adjust himself and lessen the pull.

_Whirrr_

The sound of the door pulling open was Steve's only warning that someone had just interrupted his private time. He froze keeping his eyes down and silently hoping he hadn't heard what he knew he had. After a moment, a small clearing of the throat cough cut through the silence and Steve surrendered to the inevitable and looked up as Romanoff stepped inside, her eyebrows shooting up, "Am I interrupting you, Captain?" His hand dropped to his side, a rosy blush forming on his cheeks as blood rushed thankfully to his face and not elsewhere. He stared back up at her as a wide smirk pulled her lips in a thin. Wonderful, first day on the job and public indecency was going to be added to his file; only he was in private so….private indecency…was that even possible?

Steve's raised his hands in defense, opting for a quick surrender in hopes of avoiding having to find out the afore mentioned dilemma, "It's not what it looks like…." He paused mentally kicking himself, "I mean…" Great, good one self.

Romanoff's smile grew wider. "Hey it's all good soldier boy," Steve felt a muscle in his cheek twitch at the nickname. The redhead sauntered past Steve to lean against the adjacent wall, "I'm sure it has been a while for you and the suit.' She gestured to all of him, "Please, don't stop on my account."

'Right then, always lock your door, never masturbate and avoid this woman at all costs', Steve's mental check list seemed to be growing by the second, "Was there a reason you came in, without knocking?" '_Hint, knock on the door before you wander into a strangers room__'_.

"Yes, actually," Romanoff pushed off the wall, "It's time to go. The helicopter is waiting on you. Fury thought you might have gotten lost again so he sent me to fetch you"

"Right, sorry about that", He moved to gather his shield, "I was having a small problem with the suit, but I'm ready."

"Problem? I can give you a few more minutes if you'd like," she gestured to his crotch, "to you know, finish."

"Nope!" Steve quipped, "Ready, right now," he rushed out of the room, plodding down the hall in what he hoped was the correct direction. As it turn out it must have been because not a moment later the red headed demon was by his side, eying him up.

"Right then," her smile dimmed down a bit but was still ever present, though what she found so amusing was beyond him "follow me."

Steve had the feeling this woman was going to be a real problem.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

The flight out to Germany was thankfully turning out to be a quick one; the helicopter was apparently new breed of insanely fast. and Steve was proud of himself. He hadn't thrown up once during the flight, though the nausea had gotten rather bad at one point, he had managed to keep his lunch down, as the saying went. But why they hadn't just flown the giant air turd out here was beyond him, he supposed it was as slow as it was ugly and embarrassing. A sudden rough patch of turbulence hit the helicopter, jolting it about; Steve's hand shot out, gripping the seat. Right then...lunch was threatening a revolution…

"We're here!" Romanoff called over the speakers, "Captain?! Gonna drop you off here, Loki 's up 2 blocks. Better hustle, looks like he has a crowd."

"Right!" Great, wonderful, they couldn't just land in the middle. No, fly him out, shake him up and then make him run. What were they expecting him to do, throw up on Loki till he surrendered? The door creaked open, cool air rushing in and blasting over his face as he leapt for the ground. Ah, good ol solid earth. He sprinted across the street, silently vowing to never take it for granted again.

The crowd was easy enough to find what with all the people running and screaming, cars flipping and a weird blue lights flashing here and there. Steve gripped his shield, charging across the street. "Remember, reconnaissance, Captain." Romanoff's voice drifted through his ear piece bringing him to a halt. Stealth mode, wonderful; this cape wearing freak was causing chaos and they wanted him to just sit tight…not happening. As if catching his thoughts Romanoff continued, "Captain, we need to know what he is up to. Blend in!"

A frown played across his face, blend? Seriously…they had to be joking. Maybe it was just him but it seemed a bit hard to sneak or blend when you're wearing a bright flashy unitard.

"Kneel before me! " Loki's voice reverberated over the screams.

Steve raced in as close as he could to the center before pausing. The people had slowed to a stop, making it impossible to keep moving and not draw attention to himself. He pulled his mask off his face, hoping to alleviate some of the attention he was receiving.

"I said," Loki dropped his staff, several blue lights flashed around them, taking on the form of Loki."KNEEL!"

"Great," Steve dropped to his knees, giving people next to him the shhhh finger as he went. He bowed his head low, doing his best to stay below the heads of the civilians as they too knelt to the ground.

"Is not this simpler?" Loki's voice was now crystal clear as the crowd had gone completely quiet. "Is this not your natural state?"

Steve peeked his head up, glancing over to Loki who was walking through the crowd. Yep, this guy was out of his freakin mind.

"It's the unspoken truth about humanity, that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power."

Steve stared at him as Loki's eyes met his and then passed on to glance over the rest. It took everything in his being to not haul off and beat the man senseless. He was just like every other tyrant ruler out there, out of their mind and completely in love with the sound of their own voice.

"Your identity, you were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel." Loki grinned, apparently very pleased with his speech. Steve slid a hand up to his ear piece, pressing it as he spoke softly, "Hope you got everything you needed because I'm taking him down, now."

"No!" Romanoff's voice broke through but Steve was already standing up when an elderly voice paused him in his tracks.

"Not to men like you." Steve's eyes locked on the speaker, an old man was standing not a few feet from his location, Steve lowered himself back to a full crouch, letting the man speak. One man, only one in this crowd of what had to be hundreds was brave enough to stand up to this freak.

Loki scoffed, "There are no men like me." Steve rolled his eyes; at least he had that part correct; no one else would be caught dead in a headdress like that.

"There are always men like you." The old man faced Loki dead on. He didn't shake and he didn't bow. Steve felt a swell of pride rush through his veins at the man's bravery. What had happened to the men like him in this new generation? When it came down to it, only this one old man was willing to stand up to oppression; it stung at his heart. No one else was going to stand with this man, they would let him die alone because they feared this new tyrant.

"Look to your elder people," Loki's voice was filled with amusement as he leveled his staff to the man, "Let him be an example." His staff began to low, a thrum emanating from the core.

Steve's hand shot up to his ear, "I'm taking him down, now!"

"Wait, Captain!" Romanoff's voice was desperate, but orders be damned. Steve pulled his mask back on and leapt forward shield first, deflecting the blast that shot out. The energy ball was thrown back at Loki, knocking him over. Several people began to stand as they looked up to Steve. He quickly raised himself to full height before stepping off the ledge he had landed on.

Loki lifted his head a dark gleam in his eyes as he glared back at him. "You know, the last time I was in Germany," Steve wandered forward a smile growing on his lips as people continued to stand, '_perhaps they did just need a good old fashion image to stand behind_', the thought fuelled him on, "and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing."

Loki rose from the ground, recognition coloring his features from rage to mirth, "The soldier." A laugh passed his lips as he stood, "a Man out of time."

'_Thanks for the news__ flash I wasn't__ already aware of'_ Steve's mind provided, "I'm not the one that is out of time." The helicopter's engine sounded, pulling in over his shoulder, Steve couldn't help but grin, perfect timing.

"Loki, drop the weapon and stand down!" Romanoff's voice came across the speaker but Loki wasn't listening. He launched a blue flash at the helicopter, leaving it barely enough time to swerve out of its path. Steve spurred into action launching his shield at him to prevent a second shot; it clanged off Loki's armor and ricocheted back. Steve charged, his shield slipping back on his arm as he threw a punch at Loki, it connected with his jaw causing his head to snap to the side. But Loki spun back seemingly untouched. 'That's unnerving'. Steve's punches usually sent his opponents flying. Steve's pause was all Loki needed, he reacted quickly attacking Steve with his staff and knocking his shield to the side, his fist following in a smooth motion connecting solidly and sending the Captain flying.

Steve caught himself and landed on his feet, quickly moving in, he hurled his shield at Loki as he charged him. Loki batted the shield aside and dodged Steve's first punch countering with his staff as it cut across the air. Steve dropped to a knee avoiding the blow and they danced about the field until Steve landed a fist to Loki's side. Again the blow didn't faze Loki and left Steve wide open, Loki taking full advantage and countering with a staff to the back, sending Steve across the plaza landing unceremonially on the ground.

Steve pushed himself up slowly, feigning injury. Perhaps the best tactic would be to catch the smug jerk off guard, let him think he won. Loki took the bait wandering over to him, a smug look on his pasty white face. He placed the tip of his staff to the back of Steve's head pushing him back down to the ground. "Kneel," Loki's voice was throaty and winded, Steve smirked. The jerk may be strong but he apparently wasn't used to long fights. Steve's hand shot out, grabbing the staff and ripping it away from his head, "Not today!" He spun in the air, mimicking a move he had seen on a soccer game once; his knee collided with Loki's face and sent him flailing backwards. His glory was momentary as Loki's hands shot out gripping his sides and spinning him off again for another meeting with the concrete.

Steve's head hit the pavement hard, bringing stars to his eyes and a strange noise that was growing louder by the second. Only it wasn't a noise, it was music, some sort of rock song he assumed. He rolled over as the sound grew louder and louder, suddenly emanating from the helicopters speakers. Great, just what he needed, music to get beaten up to. He glanced over to Loki and noted that he was just as confused and thankfully not sprinting over to Steve, so he allowed himself a moment to look around. A bright flash in the sky quickly caught his attention as it came streaking in connecting solidly with Loki sending him flying into a crumbled mess. The Red and Gold streak pulled back and landed in what looked like an extremely rehearsed move.

Steve couldn't help the grin that made its way to his face; Tony Stark's reputation for flashy entrances had not been over hyped, he definitely knew how to make a first impression.

Stark slowly made to stand, light reflected off the armors immaculate polish job as the Iron Man suit stood to what its own symphony of music as gears and parts whirred and clicked with its movements. It was breath taking, no wonder the man was so full of himself; it really was a work of art. The cogs and whirs sounded again as missiles or perhaps a mini machine gun came bursting out of his armor and aiming in Loki's direction. Steve to snapped out of his oogling; he had been sitting on the ground gapping at the man all the while Stark was finishing his match for him. Steve quickly pulled himself up off the floor, grabbing his shield as sprinted towards Stark.

Iron Man was standing a few feet away from the now hunched over Loki, a plethora of weapons pointing at him, "Make your move reindeer games." Steve couldn't help but grin at the comment; he did rather look like a deer. Though his mind was quickly distracted by how mesmerizing Starks voice was. Perhaps it was some trick of the suit? Cause there was no way his actual voice sounded that…...

Loki looked from Stark to Steve, a myriad of emotion played in his eyes for a moment as he slowly raised his hands. A bright glow erupted around his body; Steve pulled his shield in tighter ready for an attack. He fully expected Loki to lash out like the complete idiot he looked but the shimmering passed uneventfully and his cloak and headdress faded returning the god back to his normal appearance, well as normal as he could look. Seriously what was with that hair? Steve was beginning to wonder if it was a other worldly thing. After all, the photo he had seem of the other god, what was his name….Lore…Hor…er….Tore? Crap, he really was bad with names. Anyway, his point was the god people all had long fabulous hair and really good looks.

Stark shifted next to him, snapping Steve's mind back to the present as a shiver ran up his spine. Great…that had to be a bad sign.

Stark's arms lowered as his symphony of whirs quieted; his weapons disappearing back into his suit, stance turning from offensive to relaxed, "good move."

It was everything Steve could do to just keep his eyes on Loki. Something about Stark just radiated a confidence that pulled him in, made him want to figure out just what made him tick. He wasn't sure where it was stemming from but the last thing he wanted was to make a bad first impression. His mind all the while chanting a matra, 'don't be like Coulson, please, just don't be like Coulson.'

It took Loki's awkward glances between the two of them for Steve to realize he had been standing there, again, in awkward silence. "Mr Stark." He greeted, hoping he didn't sound as off as he felt. '_Wonderful, now he's going to think I don't like him__…__'_

"Cap'n" Stark response was accompanied by a barely given nod as he was still focusing on Loki. A loud clank sounded behind them causing Steve to turn towards the noise as the Helicopter landed; loading gate already open with guards waiting for Loki.

"Right then, hooves up jingle freak," Stark tapped Loki on the shoulder, "Santa's waiting." Loki scowled at Stark, eyes narrowing into slits but he stood and followed Stark's lead to the waiting helicopter. "I see you're as sardonic as reports suggest, Stark. Tell me, how does it feel, hanging on by a thread to your own existence?"

_'Reports_?' Steve pondered, half expecting Stark to respond; the guy just seemed the type to always need the last word. But instead of responding, the Iron suit stopped, helmet tipping to the side to face Steve, "Problem Captain Spangles?"

"Huh?" Steve blinked, "No, right then, let's get him back to base." Steve bolted passed Loki and Stark, making his way onto the waiting mini turd. He needed sleep; obviously his mind was exhausted from all the flying and he really needed to clear his head before he made an even bigger fool of himself.

Stark watched him go, not moving from his spot as Steve entered the helicopter. Loki glanced between the two of them, eyebrow rising slightly as a dark chuckle passed his lips, "Interesting."

Gold and Red flashed as his helmet whipped to look at Loki, "Something you wanna share pen pal?"

Loki smirked, "Oh, can it be the genius playboy hasn't figured it out yet? Haha well far be it from me to.." He was cut off as Tony shoved him forward roughly, "Oops, did I cut off your lovely speech? So not sorry about that. Now, be a good little alien and get in the can green giant." Loki scowled at the suit but gave in and 'allowed' himself to be shoved along.

Romanoff's voice drifted roughly from inside, growing louder as they approached. Stark shoved Loki past but not before getting a good look at the situation. Widow was furious, absolutely livid and practically screaming in Spangles' face. But Steve just stood before her, head lowered to avoid eye contact but not quite a bow of submission or guilt. Stark smiled, perhaps this captain was worthy of all the hype his father had made of him. The willing soldier who would not cower or fully submit; Tony smirked, he could have quite a lot of fun with that.

TBC…I promise!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

SO hopefully this wasn't too terrible of a chapter. It has some very rough spots in it, I will keep editing it and hopefully smooth it out but I know it has been forever since I posted and I really wanted to get this out to everyone. I could edit it for years but for the sake of moving the story past chapter 5 I will give up and let it be. Reviews and greatly appreciated, they keep me writing. 3

As a note, Steve is kind of written as a inwardly funny guy, he has jokes and understands them but is very reserved and won't say them out loud. That is just how he comes off to me. He get's jokes (well most of them) he just isn't one to pop up in a room and start making people laugh like Stark would.


End file.
